Lubricator for rock drills



Oct. 20, 1925- 1,5 ,2

' L. C. BAYLES ET AL LUBRICATOR FOR ROCK DRILLS Filed Aug. 12 1924 THEIRATTRN Y v Patented Oct. 20, 1925;

UNITED s A'nz;s

PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS c. BAYLESAND FRED m. smrnngor EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA, 'ASSIGNQBS 'romemtsotnmn COMPANY, or JERSEY crrv, NEW JERSEY,-A- conromrrron or NEWJERSEY.

nuniuca'ron on noox DRILLS.

i mflm'm August 12, 1924f Serial No. 731,540. b

To all whom it may con cm: Be it known. that we, LEWISVC;. BAYLES andFRED M. SLATER, citizens of the United:

States, and.residents of Easton, county of Northampton, and State 'ofPennsylvania,

have invented, acertain Lubricator for Rock.

valve. The plunger which is adapted to operate in the feedcylinder isusually pro vided with packing or cup leathersto effect a fluid-tightcondition in the cylinder. In ordinary. use, the plunger is subjected toconstant vibration due to the hammering.

of the hammer piston against the drill which causes excessive wear onthe packing or cup leathers unless lubricant, such as oil, is suppliedfrequently thereto.-

It is an object of this invention to supply lubrication in sufiicientquantity to the cup leathers or packingrin the feed cylinder to maintainthem in. good condition.

It is a further object'of this invention to supply lubricant from acommon oil supply chamber which is provided for the accom-" .modation ofoil to be used for lubricating the hammer piston end of the rock drilland at the same time preventing communication between the air feedcylinder and the hammer cylinder. A device of this kind is-desirable forthe reason'that if more than one oiling chamber is provided in the rockdrill, the operator is apt to neglect to fill all of the chambers andthe machine suffers from lack of lubrication.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be in part obvious'andin part pointed out hereinafter. I

The drawing illustrates one embodiment which the invention may assume inpractice and includes- Figure 1, a side view of a stope drill equippedwith a lubricator constructed in accordance with the practice of theinvention, parts being broken away to show the interior construction ofthe lubricator and the parts to which it is adapted to supply oil,and aI q Figure 2, an enlarged longitudinal section of part of the stopedrillshowing the lubri-g cator in one of its operative positions.

Referring to the drawing, the invention is illustrated in itsapplication to a stope drill having a hammer cylinder A and an air feedcylinder '13 'oin'edin any suitable manner at a feed cylinder flange C."A hammer piston Dis adapted to reciprocate within the hammer cylinder Ato deliver blows to a drill steel E inserted in the front head F.

The drill-steel E'i's heldagainst the 'work by air under pressureintroduced into the air cylinder B against a piston G provided with asuitable tail point (not shown). In

order to prevent leakage from the feed cyl inder B around the piston Gthere is pro vided suitable packing, as for instance, the

cup leathers H.

In order to kee the cup leathers H soft and in good con ition tomaintain. an air tightjoint in the cylinder B, it has been founddesirable to inject small quantities of oil to the interior of thecylinder B. It has been found unsatisfactory to leave the lubrication ofthe feed cylinder tothe judgment of the operator as either too much oilor not enough is adapted to be supplied,

causing the leathers to deteriorate or wear out rapidly. Lubricationbeing necessary for the proper operation of the hammer piston as well asthe air feed cylinder, it is proposed by this invention to employ asingle oil reservoir J to su ply lubricant to all of these parts. ,Onedi culty in such an arrangement is that the air pressures existin in thehammer cylinder and feed cylin er are not equal at all times andtherefore, communication with the oil reservoir from both cylinderscannot be had at the same time without leakage of air from the feedcylinder B to the hammer cylinder A which wou'ldresult in carrying oilfrom one to the other of t 1e cylinders in excess amounts. To this nd alubricating device is provided which is adapted to receive a smallquantity of oil from the reservoir J and to receive and entrap andthereupon tBo discharge the oil into the feed cylinder In the preferredembodiment of the invention, the, lubricating device includes a casingKwhich is adaptedto fit into a bore L in the'back head O'of the cylinderA,

preferably in the form of a cylindrical bushthe ing having an inlet P bywhich oil passing from the reservoir J by gravity or air pressure mayfind its way through the passage Q into the interior of the casing K. Anoutlet R through the casing K, longitudinally spaced from the inlet P,is adapted to permit the oil from the interior of the casing to flowdown through the groove S into the feed cylinder B. .lVithin the casingK a plunger T is adapted to be actuated by air admitted under theplunger T from the air feed cylinder B through a passage U. The plungerT is hollow having a bore V within which a piston is arranged to slide,the piston being held centrally between the upper end of the casing Kand the bottom of the bore V by resilient means, such as the coilsprings Y and Z. the latter spring being above the piston V.

Oil is adapted to be admitted to the bore V from the inlet P throughports I) which, when the plunger is in an upward position, also allow.the oil to escape from the bore V into the outlet R. Oil in the interiorof the casing K above the piston is permitted to escape into the passageQ through a relatively small port a and thence back to the reservoir J.

The operation of the pump is as follows z-lVhen air is admitted into thefeed cylinder B, it finds its way through the passage U to theunder-face of the plunger T which rises against the compression of thesprings Y and Z so as to close the inlet P entrapping the small quantityofoil under piston WV within the plunger T. Since the oil'is relativelyuncompressible, the lower coil spring Y is not materially compressedwhile the upper coil spring Z exerts a force tending to force the oilout of the plunger. There is no outlet however for the oil thusentrapped until the plunger T rises to a point at which the ports I)register with the outlet R. Thereupon a small quantity of oil within theplunger T escapes through the outlet B into the cylinder B as shown inFigure 2. The plunger T remains in this position while the air pressurewithin the feed cylinder B is maintained. Upon re duction of the airpressure the plunger T moves downwardly to its normal position as shownin Figure 1 due to the compression of springs Y and Z, whereupon oilagain is admitted to the interiorof the plunger T by gravity and bysuction due to the action of the spring Y against the piston W.

It will be noted that at no time is there communication between the feedcylinderB and the hammer cylinder A, although oil is also supplied fromthe reservoir J to the interior of the hammer cylinder A. The air,actuating'the hammer piston D is continuously pulsating and thereforeis pumped into and out of the reservoir J through the passage (Zconnecting the hammer cylinder A with the reservoir. The circulation ofair into and out of the reservoir J causes a slight amount of oil to becarried into the hammer cylinder A for lubricating the parts associatedtherewith.

If desired, the drill may be of the automatic rotating type and to thisend there -may be provided a ratchet e cooperating with the ratchet ringf and having a fluted rifle bar 9 engaging the rifle nut 72. in thepiston D. The drill may also be provided with a water supply tubeextending from a water head in in the back head 0 through the hammerpiston D into the front head F to feed cleansing water to the hollowdrill steel E. The handle 0 is provided for guiding the drill and forresisting its rotation. A throttle valve of any suitable type may beprovided. Preferably, the throttle valve is adapted to supply air underpressure simultaneously to the hammer cylinder A and the feed cylinderB, the port q cooperating with a port 1- for admitting compressed air tothe feed cylinder only being shown.

The cup leathers H are clamped to the feed piston G by a suitable bolt 8having a spacer t to receive a loosely fitting retaining spring a whichcooperates with a bushing o rigidly held in the upper end of the feedcylinder B to hold the piston G in its retracted position forconvenience in transporting the tool.

- lVe claim 1. A rock drill comprising a hammer cylinder, an air feedcylinder, a reservoir adapted to supply oil to both of said cylin ders,a lubricating device including a casing having an oil inlet from saidreservoir and an outlet to the feed cylinder, a hollow plunger withinsaid casing adapted to be actuated by air from the feed cylinder toreceive oil from said inlet, and a piston within said plunger todischarge the oil from said plunger through said easing into the feed.

cylinder.

2. A rock drill comprising a hammer cylinder, an air feed cylinder, areservoir adapted to supply oil to both of said cylinders, a lubricatingdevice including a casing having an oil inletfrom said reservoir and anoutlet to the feed cylinder, a hollow plunger within said casing adaptedto be actuated by air from the feed cyhnder to rereceive oil from saidinlet, and a spring pressed piston within said plunger to discharge theoil from said plunger through said easing into the feed cylinder.

3. A rock drill comprising a hammer cylinder, an air feed cylinder, areservoir adapted to supply oil'to both of said cylinders-and alubricating device. including a casing provided with an oil inlet and anoil lhe easing into the machine,

cylinder and a-spring pressed piston within said plunger, said plungerand piston being adapted to trapoil Within the plunger upon actuation byair pressure and to eject said oil into the feed cylinder.

i. A lubricator for fluid actuated machines comprising a reservoir, acasing having an oil inlet from said reservoir and an outlet to themachine, a hollow plunger within the casing adapted to be actuated byair under pressure to receive oil from said inlet, and a pistonwithinthe plunger to discharge the oil'f-rom the plunger through 5. Alubricatoi' for fluid actuated machines comprising a reservoir, a casinghavthe plunger through the casing into the machine. p

6. A lubricator for fluid actuated machines comprising a reservoiradapted to contain oil for the machine, and an automatic lubricatingdevice associated With in said casing adapted to be actuated by airunder pressure, and a spring pressed piston Within said plunger, saidplunger and piston being adapted to trap oil within the plunger uponactuation by air pressure and to eject said oil into the machine.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification.

LEWIS 0. names. FRED M. SLATER.

